


Wait

by ShaneShenanigans



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Fluff, M/M, from Velelan's point of view, re-written canon chaste!mance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-24 21:54:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3785635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaneShenanigans/pseuds/ShaneShenanigans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian plans on rewarding Velelan for returning his amulet, but Velelan already told him, he didn't do it in hopes of receiving anything in return. He's not entirely sure Dorian believes him, so he denies something he wants in order to make it clear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Just the chaste!mance (which is my personal canon for these two) written out.

He had a general idea. Something in the pit of his stomach that suggested to him what was going on, what Dorian had in mind.  
  
But, equal parts not wanting to jump to conclusions and wanting to make Dorian think it was some kind of surprise, he behaved as oblivious as possible.  
  
He remembered his breath picking up, as he stood outside the door to his quarters, with his hand on the doorknob. He remembered staring down at his excited hand as the anticipation and touch of the cool metal sent shivers down his spine. How many times had he held the other man against a bookcase and tried to feel every inch of him, without actually going quite so far? How many times had he hoped more than anything that someone else in the library had been disturbed when Dorian moaned against his lips?  
  
He already knew there was nothing in the world more exquisite than the sounds that man could make.  
  
His heart was beating double-time when he turned the knob, and no part of him was entirely sure what to expect.  
  
  
  
He was almost surprised to find his quarters empty when he ascended the stairs to begin with. At very least, as far as he could see, nothing had changed since his last visit.  
  
A little confused, a little lost, he walked nonchalantly to his desk. He scratched the back of his head, and sighed. He didn’t know what he’d been hoping for, but he felt silly now.  
  
A voice from the balcony changed that. “It’s all very nice, this flirting business.” Dorian was walking in, shoulders back, chest out, like always, looking big and confident as usual. “I am, however, not a nice man.”  
  
Velelan almost wanted to laugh. That was bullshit to which the likeness he’d never heard.  
  
“So, here is my proposal.”  
  
Velelan crossed his arms over his chest, probably appearing in waiting but in reality he looked on critically.  
  
“We dispense with the chit-chat, and move onto something more primal.”  
  
Something was off. He was doing it again, putting on that face, the same one he did back when they’d first started their light-hearted flirting.  
  
He’d thought they were past this.  
  
“It’ll set tongues wagging, of course.” He stood still as Dorian approached him, running through the events leading up to this in his head. “Not that they aren’t already wagging.” He watched the way Dorian spoke, the way he moved his hands, the way he walked around behind him.   
  
He wasn’t waiting for an answer, he was just giving. He was going to lay it all out on the table and let Velelan tell him yes, or no. It seemed pretty clear that he expected a yes.  
  
“I suppose it really depends.” Dorian was whispering against his ear now. Velelan considered, remembering all the times he fell in love with Dorian. Watching him hold himself together after seeing his father again, watching his brow furrow with anger and hurt when Mother Giselle accused him of being crooked despite his insistence that it didn’t bother him.  
  
The way he stepped up to the challenge wordlessly when Velelan left the ball in his court. Kissed him like he couldn’t wait, like he’d thrown aside his ridiculous mask because the answer was just too obvious and he wanted it.  
  
The way he smiled at him afterward and had no idea what kind of a storm he’d set in Velelan’s chest.   
  
This wasn’t like any of those times.  
  
“How bad does the inquisitor want to be?” The words were low, and his warm breath spread gently across Velelan’s neck as hands fell to his hips.   
  
Decidedly, Velelan found an opening to step away from him. “Do we need to move things this quickly?”  
  
That’s what he said. But the words he hoped might be heard were something closer to _“are you sure this is what you want?”_  
  
The look Dorian gave him was almost worrisome. He looked confused, even slightly put off. “Quickly?” His eyebrows furrowed. “By my standards, we’ve been positively chaste.”  
  
Velelan’s thought process faltered— he wasn’t sure what he was doing anymore, what he felt, what he was trying to get across. When he walked up to his bedroom earlier he had only one thing on his mind. But now…  
  
“It… seems a little sudden.” He said. He wasn’t sure what he was saying, but he wasn’t sure of anything else either. He needed to be sure. That this was a mutual moving-forward in their relationship because it was just something that they both wanted. Not just… what, a reward? A repayment?  
  
“What is it you want from me exactly?”  
  
Velelan swallowed hard. Part of him wanted to punch Dorian for asking that. Was that something he really needed to ask? How did he not know?  
  
“A relationship?” He spoke as if the idea was entirely foreign and absurd, and that hurt. But Velelan pressed further.  
  
“Is that such a terrible idea?” He was the Inquisitor, and not faltering in the face of danger had become part of his job. But this was harder than anything he’d faced before.  
  
The look of surprise and impossibility on Dorian’s face made something in his chest feel heavy, and he swallowed hard as Dorian started to turn away from him. He almost stuttered as he went on.   
  
“You’re… speechless.” He commented.  
  
“It doesn’t happen often.” He was right about that. His heart was pounding hard against the wall of his chest when Dorian turned back to him. “Where I come from, anything between men…” Dorian started to explain. “…It’s physical.”  
  
“It doesn’t go beyond that.”  
  
“It’s not that you don’t care, you just…” The storm in Velelan’s head whirred to a calm, and his heart beat slowed to a gently, relieved pace. “…you don’t hope for more.”  
  
Realization settled in slowly. Dorian was an idiot. Well, maybe that was too harsh, but was he really worried it might just be about sex this whole time?  
  
Maybe it was time he was a little clearer. “This is more.” He said, plainly, and Dorian’s look of concern deepened.  
  
“You say that like it’s a simple thing, easily imagined. I have no examples with which to compare.”  
  
It was simple, and easy to imagine. Velelan had been imagining it since only very shortly after they first met.  
  
“I’m sure we’ll muddle through, somehow.” Velelan wasn’t sure what he was asking of Dorian, though. How much would it take for him, how unsure he may have been. He wanted nothing more than to kiss him, push him against something for emphasis and insist that he loved him. Loved him— how long would it take before he was able to say that out loud?  
  
At any rate, he didn’t want to be that aggressive. Didn’t want to coerce Dorian into promises he was unsure about keeping.  
  
“Like the Inquisition? Make it up as we go?”  
  
Velelan almost laughed at the accuracy. “Works for me.”  
  
Dorian did laugh. “Clearly.” He said, and Velelan felt himself smile warmly.  
  
Then Dorian sighed. “Fine.” He shook his head. “Have it your way.”  
  
Velelan took that as some likeness of a yes. Dorian had a way of making things look like they weren’t his idea, like he was just going along. Maybe because if he believed it himself, it would hurt less if it didn’t work out. But, that was fine, Velelan was more than willing to give him the comfort in distance for now.  
  
But later, with time, he promised himself that he’d make Dorian understand that he didn’t have to be afraid.  
  
For now, he could say whatever he needed to be comfortable.  
  
“I am, however, not leaving your quarters empty handed.” He seemed comfortable enough, with that look in his eye. “It’s a matter of pride.”  
  
Velelan’s heart was thudding violently in his chest again, but now for a different reason. Anticipation- not worry, washed over him as Dorian closed the space between them, and he braced himself for the kiss. No matter how many times he kissed Dorian, there was a part of him that couldn’t believe it was happening.  
  
But it wasn’t just lips. It was eyes, and little looks, sincere, unstoppable smiles, some kind of fleeting understanding that made Velelan feel warm and secure in his arms. He hoped, as their lips met, that maybe Dorian felt the same thing.  
  
It was chaste, and full of nothing more than emotions portrayed by the soft touches, drags, and presses of lips against one another.    
  
The smile on Dorian’s face as he pulled away slowly was real, meant something, and Velelan returned it in equal measure.  
  
When he turned away, there was something uncertain still in the way he walked, the way he left. Like he was searching for something, some explanation, some answer to something impossible.  
  
Still, Velelan couldn’t stop smiling as he left. Dorian was something of a puzzle, and he was relatively sure that he’d just put a few more pieces together.  
  
Part of him expected to feel dissatisfied when Dorian left, given his earlier hopes for the evening. But none of him did. In fact, he felt light, invincible, and like the threat of the end of the world was nothing.  
  



End file.
